Don’t miss a beat with the fourth and final novel in the USA Today bestselling Stage Dive series from Kylie Scott.

Positive. With two little lines on a pregnancy test, everything in Lizzy Rollins’ ordinary life is about to change forever. And all because of one big mistake in Vegas with Ben Nicholson, the irresistibly sexy bass player for Stage Dive. So what if Ben’s the only man she’s ever met who can make her feel completely safe, cherished, and out of control with desire at the same time? Lizzy knows the gorgeous rock star isn’t looking for anything more permanent than a good time, no matter how much she wishes differently.

Ben knows Lizzy is off limits. Completely and utterly. She’s his best friend’s little sister now, and no matter how hot the chemistry is between them, no matter how sweet and sexy she is, he’s not going to go there. But when Ben is forced to keep the one girl he’s always had a weakness for out of trouble in Sin City, he quickly learns that what happens in Vegas, doesn’t always stay there. Now he and Lizzie are connected in the deepest way possible… but will it lead to a connection of the heart?

“Good girls don’t fall for rock stars.”

Oh man. These rock stars rock my world. Deepis the last installment of Stage Dive series and I couldn’t help but feel a little bit sad because all the characters (David, Ev, Mal, Anne, Jimmy, Lena, Ben, and Lizzy) have grown on me. How can I not?

In Deep, we finally get to have the story of Ben Nicholson, Stage Dive’s bass player, and Elizabeth “Lizzy” Rollins, Anne’s sister. Ever since Lizzy set her eyes on Ben, she has been crushing and sort of ‘obsessing’ over him. To the point where she texted him and basically flirted with him. Much as Ben tried, he wasn’t able to resist Lizzy so he flirted her back in secret. But because Mal warned him to stay away from Lizzy, and because there was a huge gap between their age, he tried to ignore her– to no avail. One night in Vegas though, the two of them had a drunken sex which later on resulted to Lizzy’s pregnancy.

“So I’d been knocked up by a rock star. Big time.”

I love unexpected pregnancy love stories. These tropes are my weakness, so I wasn’t surprised when I found myself so smitten with this book. Apart from Lizzy’s entertaining POV which made me crack up every time, I also enjoyed the push-and-pull relationship between her and Ben. It was sweet in a way that swoons and sort of frustrates you at the same. Their story wasn’t built to be perfect as each of them has flaws (especially Ben who acted immaturely in the first half of the book). But I loved how both of them became well-developed characters in the end. Especially how Ben’s principles in life slowly changed as he got to know Liz and shared a complicated relationship with her.

Yes, there were lots of bumps in the road for them but those things gave them the opportunity to explore their feelings. I also loved how the other Stage Dive characters helped them figure out their issues. (Let’s not forget Sam who’s always been there haha!) These characters are literally SQUAD GOALS!

The ending was of course, a joy to read. All of them have their piece of happy endings and I loved it. I just felt kind of emotional because the series already ended. I am looking forward to reading more Kylie Scott books, though. 🙂

Kylie Scott returns with the highly anticipated follow-up to international bestseller Lick.
Mal Ericson, drummer for the world famous rock band Stage Dive, needs to clean up his image fast-at least for a little while. Having a good girl on his arm should do the job just fine. Mal doesn’t plan on this temporary fix becoming permanent, but he didn’t count on finding the one right girl.
Anne Rollins never thought she’d ever meet the rock god who plastered her teenage bedroom walls-especially not under these circumstances. Anne has money problems. Big ones. But being paid to play the pretend girlfriend to a wild life-of-the-party drummer couldn’t end well. No matter how hot he is. Or could it?

“Life`s a song, Anne. Let’s play.”

You cannot just simply resist Mal Ericson.

I have been so interested to read the Mal’s story ever since Lick. Well who doesn’t want to get to know him more? He’s such a fun and goofy character and I knew that behind his playful attitude there’s a different side of him that we have yet to see.

Malcolm “Mal” Ericson is Stage Dive’s drummer. He is known as someone who always “plays” around when it comes to women. With his happy-go-lucky lifestyle, relationship is certainly out of the picture. But when he met a personal dilemma that requires him to basically snag a pretend girlfriend, he didn’t have a choice but to look for the perfect one to act as his girl. Meeting Anne Rollins at Ev and David’s party though was a perfect timing. They automatically clicked after a few minutes of flirting. And because Anne happens to have financial troubles, he proposed to meet her needs in exchange of moving with her in her apartment and her cooperation in his pretend relationship scheme.

“You’re the best boyfriend. Fake or not.”

You can imagine my face while I was reading this book the whole time.

There were certainly lots of hilarious moments in this book. Mal didn’t fail to crack me up with his sexual innuendos with Anne and his crazy exchange and shenanigans with his band mates. Hilarious scenes aside, there was an emotional side to it that made me appreciate its entirety. I loved Mal and Anne’s dynamic. While Mal might be a player, his character development throughout the story– the way he stuck to Anne and basically followed a monogamous relationship, very well pleased me. There was no cheating involved which made me love this book even more. I also loved Anne’s character. The way she accepted Mal behind his many layers and the way she stood by him despite the fact the she too has some personal issues was really admirable. This couple is perfect for each other!

Like most pretend relationship books, these characters fell into a real relationship together, but what I loved about this book was Mal and Anne’s mutual acceptance when it comes to their weak sides. Each conflict was immediately resolved without getting into so much drama which I really loved.

What also made me embrace this book was Mal’s relationship with his family, especially with his mom. It was touching. I even found myself crying over some scenes here. I think his family relationship was the one that truly changed Anne’s feelings toward her mom, too.

I also thought the rock star theme here was more palpable compared to the previous book. In this installment there was certainly a lot of stage actions by the Stage Dive. I felt their passion to music because of their performances and connection with their fans.

“Mal’s playing and the music owned me, the smoothness of his movements and his absolute focus. His energy.”

Kylie Scott made it really possible to balance out both the hilarious and emotional vibes in this book. Play, in my opinion, was better than Lick. I loved that it possesses all the elements (sexy times included) to make it a lot more enjoyable. If you’ve enjoyed David and Ev’s story in Lick, then you definitely need to get into Mal’s story.

Evelyn Thomas’s plans for celebrating her twenty-first birthday in Las Vegas were big. Huge. But she sure never meant to wake up on the bathroom floor with a hangover to rival the black plague, a very attractive half-naked tattooed man in her room, and a diamond on her finger large enough to scare King Kong. Now if she could just remember how it all happened.

One thing is certain, being married to one of the hottest rock stars on the planet is sure to be a wild ride.

“You made sense to me. We make sense. We’re a whole lot better together than apart.”

This book was all I’ve ever needed in a rock star romance story. Lickwas a sweet, fast moving, and guilty-pleasure book that was a pure joy to read.

The story began when Evelyn “Ev” Thomas woke up with a realization that she’s married to the famous lead guitarist of Stage Dive band, David Ferris. She happened to forget the details on how she got married to him though, because apparently it was a drunken marriage that happened in Vegas. Now she is in for a crazy and unexpected ride of her life– being a Mrs. David Ferris wherein she has to deal with paparazzi stuffs and obsessed fans. And being someone who’s confused whether she wants the marriage to continue or not– given the fact that it was an insta-marriage kind and that David is still a stranger, after all.

First of all, I loved David. I’ve read a few rock star stories with equally hot rock star leads but David is quite different. Apart from being a man-candy who has an intoxicating charm all over his body, this guy knows exactly how to care for his woman. I loved the way he extended his sweetness for Ev and the way he chased after her when things got bad.

Our heroine Ev is also likeable, although I wish to see more depth in her character. Despite the absence of that factor though, I found her feelings for David genuine. She didn’t care about how rich and famous David is but instead she treated him like an ordinary guy. As for the side characters, I found them really adorable and interesting– especially Mal and Jimmy. I can’t wait to read their stories in the next books of this series!

Overall, this book met my expectations. It didn’t fail to surprise me and make me smile the whole time I was reading it. I loved that it was just light and easy read, without unnecessary dramas. I also loved how it was written in an enticing and delicious way. It’s my first time to read Kylie Scott’s work and she sure made me fall in love with her writing style.

(I’ve read this book for the #NALitLoversPH #NewAdultAndBeyondPH readalong)